I do apologize for being quiet in recent weeks. In all honesty, I have been doing my best to get through the final month of school through rigorous studying. Those who have paid attention noticed that I still produce work a few times a week, but currently find it hard. School and personal matters are keeping me from staying on top of current trends as much as I should - and most of what I do focus on is TV related, which I feel is antithetical to The Oscar Buzz's content (though I do highly recommend The Leftovers). If you want that content, please check it out on Optigrab. For now, I want to announce what will be coming this June. It's a new column, and probably one as ambitious as my Nothing But the Best column was initially. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce to you A24 A-to-Z. As the title suggests, it focuses on A24's rich filmography. But why them? Well, I'll tell you why after the jump.
It seems a bit crazy to suggest, but I think that A24 may be one of the great independent movie studios currently operating. This isn't just my crazy speculation. The Academy has continually recognized them in recent years. Last year featured a Best Actress win for Brie Larson Room. They've won Best Documentary with Amy. This past year they even won Best Picture with Moonlight. To say the least, they are more reputable than you think, and I feel like it would be worth exploring the highs and lows of their releases. It's a bit insane considering that there's dozen upon dozens of releases now (and only getting higher), but it could be worth exploring.
For the time being, my intention with A24 A-to-Z is going to be a column released every 10 days starting on June 1 that focuses on a film in chronological order. For those familiar with my Nothing But the Best column, it will be a bit similar. The only difference is that I will attempt to mix research with review by trying to understand its cultural value. This will include general box office, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and (when the time comes) stats on their various awards traction. It won't be immediate, but the hope is that I do uncover a lengthy understanding of why A24 continues to push boundaries with inspiring and sometimes confounding work.
My big worry is that this goal is a little unwieldy and that A24 eventually becomes a subpar studio. There's a reason that I would challenge this instead of something like Dreamworks that has a larger catalog to pull from. If nothing else, A24's work to date has been interesting, if not always successful. For the time being, I will try to maintain a schedule of every 10 days so that I have time to do research and watch the movies that I haven't seen yet. While this should be an adequate structure through the summer months, I may push back in the Fall when Oscar Season kicks in and things in general become more unmanageable. I will let you know when that time comes.
For now, I hope that you are as excited as I am to head down this rabbit hole and discover the magic of indie cinema. This is a column that could've as easily been dedicated to Annapurna, but I feel has too many familiar hits from Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master of course) and various established directors to produce interesting work cumulatively. For now, I will try to make this column work and hopefully get you to check out some of modern cinema's great undiscovered masterpieces like The Bling Ring, The Witch, Slow West, American Honey, and more. I hope to learn a lot on this journey and that this proves as fruitful as the Nothing But the Best column (which will probably cover Moonlight before A24 A-to-Z does, just F.Y.I.). For now, get renting those movies, and prepare for a fun summer of movies.
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